beBetter 

Last week, I published the tenth blunder in the blog series, My Top 10 Blunders and How You Can Avoid Them.

As leaders, I think that it’s important that we acknowledge our mistakes. We need to own them, learn from them and not be afraid to laugh at ourselves. This creates a positive and light mood for your team, and enables them to break free from the fear of making mistakes. Some of my most rewarding moments as a leader have come after I owned my mistakes. 

This blog is the tenth in the series, My Top 10 Blunders and How You Can Avoid Them. 

As I have shared my top blunders over the past few weeks, you may have noticed a common thread which turned everything around for me: FEEDBACK!  I finally realized that the only feedback I received was during my annual performance evaluation. And I came to dread this awful annual experience with the mountain of feedback and all of the surprises!  

This blog is the ninth in the series, My Top 10 Blunders and How You Can Avoid Them. 

This blog is the eighth in the series, My Top 10 Blunders and How You Can Avoid Them. 

A few weeks ago, I received a special invitation to spend some quality time at Sage Valley with a group of CPA executives who I respect very much. Initially, I declined the invitation because this connection event was scheduled around 2.5 days of golf, which is a sport I gave up several years ago.  As a golfer, I found myself frustrated and inconsistent, and with very little time to practice, I dropped it and had no interest in revisiting those frustrations. 

This blog is the seventh in the series, My Top 10 Blunders and How You Can Avoid Them.

This blog is the sixth in the series, My Top 10 Blunders and How You Can Avoid Them.

This blog is the fifth in the series, My Top 10 Blunders and How You Can Avoid Them.

This blog is the fourth in the series, My Top 10 Blunders and How You Can Avoid Them

On a recent trip to Sage Valley, in Graniteville, SC, I learned a lesson in what it really means to have a meaningful life of service to others and how we are living our dash every day, which determines our legacy. 

This blog is the third in the series, My Top 10 Blunders and How You Can Avoid Them

For a long time, I had a terrible habit of communicating my expectations with very little clarity. 

For example, let’s take a look at this totally made up scenario:

This blog is the second in the series, My Top 10 Blunders and How You Can Avoid Them

My wife, Cathy, and I have routinely discussed how hectic and busy Mondays can be each week.  In fact, Monday night is her night to cook as I usually get home the latest on those nights. One busy Monday morning around 10 a.m., I noticed my cell phone ringing and that it was Cathy calling.  I knew this must be an emergency so I answered my phone, “What’s going on?” Cathy replied, “The dishwasher broke, I can’t even get it to turn on.” I quickly replied, “What the hell do you want me to do about it from the office?”

This blog is the first in the series, My Top 10 Blunders and How You Can Avoid Them.

As I reflect on my career, I must admit it did not take me long to note many more than 10 blunders. For my sanity, I have decided to share only what might be the top 10 in this blog series. I wouldn’t say this first blunder was the biggest but it certainly felt like the right place to start. It certainly ranks in the top five.